


Tommy Knows: "Odyssey"

by ThomE_Gemcity_06



Series: Eloquence of a Secret [14]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon-divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, Emotuion Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s1e14 - “Odyssey", Family Drama, Friendship, Gen, Secrets, Team-up!, Tommy Knows!, casework, relationship drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 22:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11217255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThomE_Gemcity_06/pseuds/ThomE_Gemcity_06
Summary: Oliver's shot, Felicity's in the lair, and Tommy tries to keep it all together.





	Tommy Knows: "Odyssey"

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, its episodes or its characters.   
> Tag: Season 1, Episode 14 - "Odyssey"

**aRRoW**

"It's been an hour, where is he?" Tommy demanded as he paced.

"He just found out his mother knew his father's yacht had been sabotaged and told no one." Diggle pointed out from where he sat at he computer monitors. "He needs a minute to process."

"Yeah? And he needs his thinking-Hood to do it, does he? He just grabbed his Hood and left, this is not 'needing a minute to process'." Tommy air-quoted mockingly. "This is Oliver going to do something stupid because he's angry and confused; he's always been like this. But now, it's not getting drunk and pissing on a cop car. No, now he has arrows and Ninja skills."

"I think he has more control than that," he reasoned.

"He didn't take a comm. either!" Tommy bemoaned. "When I get my hands on it, I'm sewing a comm. into his Hood."

"Do you even know how to sew?" Diggle wondered in amusement.

"I'm learning," he said distractedly. Diggle gave him an odd look. "I'll put a tracking device in his boot, too. That'll show him."

"I don't think he'll appreciate that."

"It's gonna happen whether he likes it or not." Tommy growled determinedly. "He can't just run off like that!"

"He's a grown man, he can take care of himself." Diggle remarked. "You need to take a chill pill, Merlyn."

"I did, thank you very much. The hospital gave me some, but it chills the body, not the soul."

" **Breaking News** _!"_ one of the monitors lit up with a Hood alert and both men turned their attention to the screen. " _So far the police are unwilling to comment but unsubstantiated eyewitness reports claim the Starling City Vigilante attacked Mrs. Queen in her office earlier tonight. She was unharmed in the assault."_

"What did I tell you?!" Tommy exclaimed. "He went and did something stupid, Diggle!"

"Hello?"

Both men spun, Diggle drawing a gun on the intruder.

"Felicity?" Tommy blurted in confusion. But it was her shocked appearance, and blood-soaked sweater that kicked him into action. "Are you okay?" he rushed over to her.

"Fine, fine." She said. "But Oliver... he's really heavy. And there's blood all over my seats."

"What?"

"Where's your car?" Diggle asked hurriedly.

"I parked it out back, by the loading dock. I didn't think it would be a good idea to park out front..." Felicity trailed off and ran after them through the secret South entrance. She quickly pressed the electric fob, unlocking the doors.

"You locked them?" Tommy asked as he took hold of Oliver's legs and Diggle his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, but I've never been in this kind of situation before!" she rushed after them; Oliver didn't even make a sound of pain at the handling, he was completely out. "What if someone tried to... steal him?"

The question was so absurd, the situation so frightening, Tommy could even find it in him to react. They quickly set Oliver on the wheeled light table, stripping him of his Hood.

"How bad is it?" Tommy asked as he quickly pulled over a a legit medical trolley.

Diggle was bent over the wound at Oliver's left clavicle. He exhaled in relief. "It just missed his carotid, but he's still losing a lot of blood." He took the clean towel Tommy paced him and pressed it to the would. "The bullets still in there, we gotta get it out."

"I should have taken him to the hospital," Felicity panicked.

"No, he's right here where he needs to be." Diggle told her.

"The hospital would ask too many questions and are legally obligated to call the police for gunshot wounds." Tommy sorted through the labelled drawers for the needed medical tools, silently muttering through his mental checklist. "You did the right thing, Felicity. You did what he asked."

"Merlyn--"

"Right here," Tommy pulled over the tray. "Felicity, we need your hands."

"What? Um..." she froze at the request.

"Now, please!" Tommy quickly pulled her over. "Pressure here, just like Diggle was doing."

"Okay, okay." Her hands quickly replaced Diggle’s.

Diggle quickly cleaned his hands of blood and quickly sorted through the tools, as Tommy hooked Oliver up to the provided heart monitor; its pace was fast.

"Do you guys know what you're doing?" Felicity asked, watching the flurry of movement.

"I had some medical training in the Army, I just hope its enough." Diggle said. He glanced at the general manager and was about to speak up as Tommy hung the blood on the slotted pole at the head of the table, but stopped as he watched Tommy insert the needle into Oliver's arm like a pro.

The men quickly snapped on a pair of latex gloves. "Okay, Felicity, let's see what we're dealing with." Diggle said.

**...**

"Where the hell did you learn to stitch like that?" Diggle wondered, watching as Tommy sniped the surgical thread. He patted the wound with a pad soaked with iodine and taped a bandage over the wound. "In fact, how did you know what tools I needed or how to do an I.V.?"

"Considering that in the span of the same day you and Oliver had been shot with a poison-laced bullet and I was a freaking, panicked mess that was completely useless?" Tommy filled in with a self-deprecating tone. "I've been taking classes at Starling U. for Advanced First Aid for months now."

Diggle looked impressed. "When did you find the time to do that?"

"Plate-spinner, Diggle." Tommy reminded. He tossed the latex gloves and turned to Felicity who was sitting quiet in her own head on a stool. "How ya doing over there, Felicity?"

She blinked several times as she was drawn out by his voice. "I always wondered what I would do if I found my boss shot in my backseat. Not that I think about finding Mr. Queen in my backseat, shot or otherwise! I'd like to think I would help anyone shot and bleeding in my car."

"Hey," Tommy sat on the stool next to her. He put a hand on her knee and turned her to face him. "You did good, really good for someone who found The Hood bleeding in her car and whose true identity was Oliver Queen. Definitely a lot less yelling than I did and punching than Diggle did."

"I was right." She said.

"What?" he gave his head a shake of confusion.

"He does tell you everything."

Tommy gave an awkward hum. "Tells me most things, at least."

"I thought you'd be more freaked out than this, too." Diggle said. He approached the pair and handed Felicity a cold bottle of water. "You never called it?"

"I'm not saying that." She shook her head and took a drink. "But some of the things you guys brought me... hairy doesn't begin to cover it. Bullet-riddled laptops? High-security fobs? Black arrows? And don't forget the terrible lies." She pointed at Tommy with narrowed eyes, "Do you have another friend named Steve?"

Tommy chuckled in surprise at the question. "I'm sure somewhere out there in the world, their is an Oliver, Tommy, and Steve friendship happening."

She quirked a small smile at that. "Now that I know, I disappointed in myself that I never made that final connection. In context, it seems as obvious as the sun. No one can not change after five-years on a deserted island. I mean, how else would he have hunted for food but with a bow and arrows. Duh!"

"You thought about this a lot, huh?" Tommy teased.

"Mmmmmm," she drew it out. "Maybe. But it's not like other people haven’t wondered either. I mean, it's a mystery—I hate mysteries; they need to be solved."

"You must hate Oliver then." Diggle said.

"What? Of course I don't! I don't know him enough to hate him, not that I would hate him if I knew him better. At least I would like to think so."

"I was only joking," Diggle was amused, "But I think he'll find that reassuring."

"He's easy to hate, hard to love... but once you do, you can't rid of the guy." Tommy said.

They all jumped at the beeping screech. Diggle rushed over to Oliver, checking the monitor. "He's flat-lining!"

Tommy swung around the defibrillator. "Watch out!" he called, pressing the switch and turning the dial.

"Please tell me you know how to use those." Diggle said as he put the pads on Oliver's upper right chest and his lower left abdomen.

"One of the first lessons." Tommy took Diggle's place and pressed the paddles to the pads.

"You're supposed to say clear!" Felicity blurted on the other side of the table, her hands at her mouth.

Tommy's eyes flickered to her and he called, "Clear!" and pressed the buttons. Oliver's chest arched slightly as his muscles tightened with the brief intense electrical shock. "Anything?" he asked, raising the paddles.

"N-- Yeah! Yeah, we got him back!" Diggle let out a gust of relief, watching the steady peaks on the monitor.

Tommy let out his own shaky breath, turning off the defibrillator and putting the paddles back in their cradles. "I've never done that on a real person before!"

"You gotta start somewhere," Diggle clapped him on the back.

"Yeah, I just didn't think it would be my best-friend." Tommy said, staring down at his unconscious friend. "Don't think you can die on my now." He whispered. "I wasn't able to do anything before, but I sure as hell can now." He was startled when Felicity was suddenly in front of him, arms around his waist. "Hey, hey. You okay? He's going to be fine, he's made of tough stuff. You're shaking." His arms curled around her back.

She shook her head, her cheek against his chest. "That's you," she whispered.

He raised his hand behind her head and watched it tremble. "Huh." He laid it back flat center her back.

Her own hands fisted in the material of his shirt. "He's going to be fine," she whispered the words at him. "He's made of tough stuff. I mean, he takes abs-of-steel to a whole new level."

He gave a slightly choked chuckle. "Thank you," he whispered into her hair.

"For what?"

"For being brave and bringing him here, not knowing what you were going to find. For not calling the cops instead. For caring. For staying. For being my friend."

"That's a lot of things," she remarked.

"You're an incredible person, Felicity."

"I was just being myself."

"And that's the most amazing thing of all."

She pulled back slightly and looked at up at him. "What happened?" she asked, her hand coming up and finger tips gently touching his bruised cheek, looking at the split on the bridge of his nose, the cut on his neck.

"Got into a bit of a fight." He admitted in a low voice. "Earlier tonight, or should I say last night, now? Laurel and I were kidnapped."

She just realized what position they were in and was about to jump back, her face the colour of tomato, when his words registered in her brain, and everything else was thrown out. "What? What do you mean you were kidnapped?" she demanded. "What? Is she okay? Are you okay?"

"Laurel was only Tasered." Tommy assured her. "She's fine. Her dad's probably sleeping on her couch right now, keeping an eye on her."

"And you?"

"Just surface damage. Oliver stopped him before it could get beyond that."

"You mean he killed..." she stepped back.

He grasped her forearms gently. "He didn't have a choice. It was either me or him. Are you okay? I know it's a lot to take in."

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I think. Dig has help put some thing into perspective."

"He has?" Tommy was surprised. "When did he have time to do that?"

"Plate-spinning!" Diggle called in jest. "You were completely zoned out when you were sewing Oliver up."

"Oh, well then, that saves me the work." He smiled. "Hey, while I have you," he said, "Maybe you can help me with something." He went to the foot of the table and started to unlace Oliver's boot.

"I'm not sorry to say that I don't have a foot-fetish." Felicity said. "What are you doing?"

"Oliver ran off without telling us anything and got himself shot," Tommy pried a boot off without jostling the patient. "So, while he's out I'm going to put a tracker in his boot. You know tech-y-things, help me out?" the other came away.

"Tech-y-things." She repeated. She glanced back at Oliver before looking at Tommy. "Sure."

Tommy grinned. "You're definitely more reasonable than Diggle."

"Just wait until he finds out!" Diggle called over to them.

"Don't tell him and he won't."

**...**

"Looks like I didn't die, that's good news."

Diggle and Tommy both started at the unexpectedness of Oliver's voice, but Felicity let out a little scream and was left gasping, hand clenched over her heart from where she was working at the computer hub.

"Felicity." Oliver looked over at her as he sat up against both Diggle and Tommy's insistence.

"Sorry, sorry. You just scared me. I wasn't expecting that. Just ignore me." She turned back in her chair.

Oliver opened his mouth for further questions when Diggle appeared at his side. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was shot," he answered simply. "How does it look?"

"See for yourself," Diggle handed him a hand mirror from another table.

Oliver held up the mirror in his right hand, angling it to get a view of the wound at his left clavicle and neat row of stitches. "Nice job with this stitching, Diggle." He complimented.

"Thanks, but it wasn't me, man."

"Felicity?" Oliver was taken aback, looking at the surprised woman.

"Right here." Tommy briefly raised his hand.

"Tommy?" Oliver looked confused.

Tommy just shook his head. "Never mind. You're up and alive and that means we've killed you. I'd say that's a point in favour of Team Hood." He smiled.

"The police collected a sample of your blood at QC." Felicity said, her fingers working the keyboard. "I just hacked into the crime lad and ordered the sample destroyed. Oops," she could feel The Hood stare, "Hey. I hope it's alright."

"Of course it's okay!" Tommy waved off any of Oliver's protestations, if he had any, before he could speak them. "You're way better at computer stuff than any of us and we definitely couldn't have hacked into the crime lab database and had Oliver's blood ordered to the incinerator."

Oliver stood and faced her. "Does that mean you want to join the team?"

She blinked in surprise. "Just like that?"

"You've proved yourself time and again, even if you didn't realize it. With that lap top, fob, black arrow and Vertigo. You took me here instead of the hospital." Oliver said. "You're practically an honorary member."

"So Diggle told me." She stood. 

Tommy's eyes darted between the two, his breath held as his feelings towards the matter fluctuated. He wanted Laurel nowhere near Hood business, but he hoped Felicity's answer was... yes? Did that mean he cared about Laurel's safety more than Felicity's? No, it was that he had more trust for Felicity with this secret.

"No." She said.

"Then why--" he started.

"First, seeing a network so poorly set up hurts me in my soul; I couldn't just leave the poor thing like that. And second," she looked determined, "I want to find Walter and I can't do that on a half-baked setup.."

"Walter?" Diggle questioned.

Felicity nodded. "He was nice to me." She looked to Oliver, "Diggle told me the notebook that you use to fight crime is that same notebook that got Walter abducted. I want to help rescue him, but I won't help you with your crusade. Then, I want to go back to my boring life of being an IT Girl. That is my offer."

"Okay." He nodded gruffly and held out his hand.

She shook it. "Now, I've been meaning to ask..." her cheeks went pink. "Where's the bathroom? Because I've had to go pee since I got here."

"You precious thing." Tommy chuckled. He pointed, "Up the stairs and to the left."

"Oliver, I know you don't wanna hurt this girl and you didn't have a choice in telling her who you were, but we're asking her into some pretty dangerous stuff." Diggle challenged as Felicity disappeared upstairs.

"We can protect her," Oliver insisted.

"She's not going out into the field, right, because she's just here to help us find Walter." Tommy said. "She can do that from the safety of the basement. And besides, I'll always be here while you two are out."

"And what about all your... plate-spinning?" Diggle crossed his arms.

"Trust me. You think Felicity wouldn't be my priority?"

"Alright." Oliver nodded. "But Diggle will amp your training schedule."

"Done." Tommy agreed.

"While we have a minute," Diggle looked at Oliver, "Want to tell us what hell you were thinking."

Tommy pointed. "That's my line. What the hell, Oliver?"

Oliver sighed and ran his right hand through his hair. "You were both right. _Not_ about her being involved," he quickly inserted, "But what I do know is when I was standing in her office with an arrow aimed at her heart, she begged me to spare her all on behalf of me and Thea."

"Oliver, we know that she loves you and Thea, no one is doubting that. But after everything you've learned and seen in the last forty-eight hours... your judgement is clouded." Diggle said.

"Of course my judgement is clouded, she's my mother!" Oliver shouted. "But we haven't learned anything, have we? We don't know what The Undertaking is. And until we do, she's off limits. Is that clear?"

Diggle was quiet for a moment. "Yeah."

"Okay. Hey." Tommy interrupted. "It been a long night-into-day, we're all tired and stressed, and in _pain_." He gave his best-friend a pointed look.  "You should go home, Oliver. Your mom... after what happened they'll want you home." Tommy said. "I'll take Felicity home, then take her car to get detailed. Your dime, of course. Your blood after all." He gently squeezed the blond's right shoulder. "Diggle will drive you, of course."

"Yeah." Oliver briefly squeezed his elbow before he gave a curt nod at Diggle, and left through the South entrance.

"I can't believe Moira shot him." Tommy whispered as Diggle passed.

"I can," Diggle scoffed quietly, slipping on his jacket. "She's not the kind of woman to sit idle as you wave an arrow in her face."

f

**aRROW**

**Author's Note:**

>  _So, what did you think of Tommy playing doctor?_  
>  **DELETED TEXT:**  
>  "And you?" Felicity asked him.  
> "Huh?" She waved at his face; the bruised cheek, split on the bridge of his nose, and the horizontal cut at the left of his neck. "Oh. Just a little kidnapping earlier tonight."  
> "What?!" she exclaimed. That definitely got more of a reaction than finding out Oliver was The Hood.  
> "If it hasn't already been on the news, I'm sure it will be in the morning."   
> ..........  
> TOMMY: "Ok. Does this mean that I really am a side-sidekick now? I mean, she is staying, right? She does have more useful skills that I do AND she is definitely more pretty to look at and that's saying something."  
> FELCITY: "Oh, I'm not--"  
> TOMMY: "We ARE keeping her, right?"  
> DIGGLE: "She's not some piece of furniture you can own, Merlyn."  
> FELICITY: "Yeah. Though... I would make an awesome bureau -- if that was a thing that happened to all of us -- getting our souls trapped in furniture like Beauty and the Beast."  
> TOMMY: "A chest of drawers, huh?"  
> DIGGLE smacked him upside the head.  
> TOMMY: "Hey!"  
> DIGGLE: "That's for being a pervert."  
> TOMMY: "I was just kidding around. I'd be a pillow, by the way, because everyone keeps slapping me around and slobbering one me" /OR/ "Apparently, I would be a rug 'cause people walk all over me."  
> "No," FELCITY shook her head. "You'd be a tablecloth, catching the mess before it soaks down to the table.”


End file.
